DESARROLLO DE HUEVOS Y LARVAS TEMPRANAS DE LA MERLUZA DEL SUR, MERLUCCIUS AUSTRALIS, CULTIVADOS BAJO CONDICIONES DE LABORATORIO

the embryonic and early larval development of the southern hake, merluccius australis, is described for the first time using laboratory reared specimens. the eggs are pelagic, measure 0.9-1.1 mm diameter, have smooth chorion, unsegmented yolk and one 0.19-0.27 mm diameter oil globule. at a temperature of 11.5 oc the larvae hatch 7 days after fertilization, at an average size of 2.8 mm nl (notochord length); yolk reserves are exhausted in 9 days. yolk-sac larvae grow at a linear rate of 0.15 mm/day. growth rate is reduced to 0.08 mm/day from first feeding to 45 days (multiple slope test, p < 0.001)